Primal wife equals primal life. Itchy's Primal Journal

I've been here a couple of weeks, and before I get into any more arguments on the forum, I thought I had better start a journal so people can see a little more about who they are talking to.

First a little about myself. I am a 42 year old male, happily married and living in Edmonton, Alberta. I have five children and a granddaughter. I work in the oilfield services industry, and spend quite a bit of time away from home, often finding myself in remote locations where it is very difficult to control my diet. I know it may sound like an excuse, but believe me, its hard to find grass-fed beef when you are a five-hour boat ride from shore or a fifteen hour drive to the nearest major city!!

Anyway, as my career has progressed from a very physically demanding position and into a managerial one, I've slowly but steadily gained weight. This is a pattern I am now trying to reverse.

At 6'4" with a peak weight of 210lbs I'm not terribly heavy, but its the pattern of slow steady weight gain that I am trying to interrupt and reverse. Furthermore, I have been suffering from GI trouble, migraines, sinus problems, energy deficiencies, panic attacks, and low-grade depression, and wanted to see if some of these problems were diet related.

In October last year, I picked up a copy of Tim Ferriss' book, "The four-hour body." I followed his recommendations for a couple of months, and lost about five pounds - but didn't feel any better. I began to research the Primal/Paleo lifestyle next, and read Rob Wolfe's "The Paleo Solution" followed by Mark's Primal Blueprint. (I'm an avid reader.)

Over the Christmas season, my wife and I decided to give the Primal lifestyle a try, and as a New Year's resolution, we both gave up alcohol (we did tend to drink quite heavily), and went Primal. I've managed to stay at least 90% primal despite having spent some of this time in a hotel in a small town, and some time in a work camp (where they cook for us).

25 days later, and my results are more than I had hoped for.

So far, I am down 9lbs and I have lost 4.5 inches around my waist!!! (while gaining 0.5inches in chest, and 0.5inches upper arms.) My GI problems are gone completely as are the sinus problems. I haven't had any migraines (just a couple less severe head-aches). My depression has lifted, and my panic attacks have been much less frequent, less severe, and don't last as long. As an added bonus, my wife and I are spending more time together in the kitchen (fun), and enjoying our journey together immensely. Its good to have a shared goal

Here is an outline of what I am doing specifically:

No dairy except butter, no grains, no legumes, no bad oils, no processed foods, no rice, no potato, no fruit juices, no pop, no alcohol

LOTS of beef (still not grass-fed but working on it), lots of omega and free range eggs, lots of chicken, some pork, moderate amounts of fish, lots of shellfish, lots of coconut oil and coconut milk, lots of greens, peppers, onion, squashes, celery, carrot, fresh herbs. Diet is consistently 60% fat, protein ranges from 20%-35%, and carbs range from 5%-20%. Calories range from 2500-3100 per day.

Supplements: Vitamin D, cod liver oil, L-carnitine, Glocosamine

Exercise/activity: Convict conditioning when I am on the road (three times/week). Stronglifts 5x5 when at home (three times/week). So far I've been a little bit all over the place with these, but have now fallen into a routine. Also more walking, and an effort to focus more on some of the physical aspects of my job. I have not done any sprints yet, but plan on adding them to the mix as well.

On my way to work early this morning for a night shift tonight. Tired and cranky as I only had about 4 hours of sleep last night. Will sleep in the hotel when I arrive for a few more hours. Always so difficult to transition from days to nights.

This is also the time where it becomes difficult to eat Primal. Living out of a suitcase in a town with a population under 10,000. I'm certain that Grok didn't pull many strings of 12hr nightshifts; preparation is the key. Wish me luck!

I was thinking of you after reading your journal post yesterday. This county of mine has become a hotbed of fracking activity in the past year, and my rural little county is so insular that we all are totally worked up at the "strangers" (oil field guys and sundry other folk for associated-related jobs) now in our midst. Our local grocery stores are now carrying gator meat, catfish, frog legs, cajun seasonings galore, boudin, and copious amounts of Gulf shrimp.

I am glad Primal is working for you! It is nice to feel good in your own body, isn't it!

I have a mantra that I have spouted for years... "If I eat right, I feel right. If I feel right, I exercise right. If I exercise right, I think right. If I think right, I eat right..." Phil-SC

I love your journal title! My family went primal by captive since I do the shopping and meal prep. Hubby's fine with it and the kids know they won't find junk at home. We are all much healthier for it. Sounds like you have found lots of good and are kicking butt! As you already know, just do your best and plan for success... and the possibility of #6 with you getting all hot and buff for your happy wife...

Hey Itchy, I've been reading your posts and find I've been agreeing with them so I thought I'd see who you are. Isn't it great when your spouse in on board with this way of eating? I don't think I could keep it up if my Hubby weren't committed. We are about 10 yrs older then you and we feel like we have a whole new lease on life.

I was thinking of you after reading your journal post yesterday. This county of mine has become a hotbed of fracking activity in the past year, and my rural little county is so insular that we all are totally worked up at the "strangers" (oil field guys and sundry other folk for associated-related jobs) now in our midst. Our local grocery stores are now carrying gator meat, catfish, frog legs, cajun seasonings galore, boudin, and copious amounts of Gulf shrimp.

I am glad Primal is working for you! It is nice to feel good in your own body, isn't it!

Tank you.

I understand the frustration it must cause having your community over-run by outside workers. There are always serious challenges connected with "gold-rush" type scenarios.

We are a mature oilfield up here in Alberta (where I usually work), and the infrastructure has built up together with the oilfield . The towns and cities are usually well equipped to handle the coming and goings of workers, and in most of the towns, a good number of the young men already work in the "patch". We don't get people coming up from the gulf states as you are experiencing, but wow, enjoy the cajun food!! I happened to work around New Orleans for three months in 2011, and I loved the food. One of my favorites was a ribeye topped with fresh crawfish meat and a side of creamed spinach, yum!

Originally Posted by Mud Flinger

I love your journal title! My family went primal by captive since I do the shopping and meal prep. Hubby's fine with it and the kids know they won't find junk at home. We are all much healthier for it. Sounds like you have found lots of good and are kicking butt! As you already know, just do your best and plan for success... and the possibility of #6 with you getting all hot and buff for your happy wife...

Its a challenge to break the kids of their eating habits, especially the two teens in the house. I think a slow transition into better choices is the best we can expect from them right now. Our sixteen year old son likes to order pizza in after we've gone to bed!! Our eight year old daughter seems to already be concerned about healthy eating, and mentioned to my wife about vegetarianism. Anyway, we are gently steering her in the Primal direction as much as we can. The school and her peers are formidable opponents, but we are trying to become more active as well, and she LOVES coming for walks with my wife and I. She will hopefully see the link

Hey Itchy, I've been reading your posts and find I've been agreeing with them so I thought I'd see who you are. Isn't it great when your spouse in on board with this way of eating? I don't think I could keep it up if my Hubby weren't committed. We are about 10 yrs older then you and we feel like we have a whole new lease on life.

We are both extremely thankful to have found this philosophy. It really is having a major effect on us both in a very short period of time. Not only are we both losing body fat, but some of our other symptoms of poor diet are already beginning to clear up. We have also been getting closer as a couple

I am glad you have liked some of my posts, its nice to be accepted into a community even if its in cyber-space. Maybe my wife and I can one day bring inspiration to others as some of the great stories found here have brought inspiration to us.

Just so you know, I will probably pepper you with oil field questions, especially in regard to the environment. Just your personal experiences, because I can't ask of you anything more than that. Crabbcakes Manor is a house divided as far as energy issues and the environment go - my hubby has opposing views to that of the rest of the family, and you seem to be a calm, cool, collected, well-spoken and intelligent sort who happens to be in the industry. The rest of us would like to string up the fracking folks by the short and curlies, just because we see trees coming down by the truckload, and those damn pads are much, much bigger than anybody really realized, and we are losing our starlight with the lights that shine brighter than anything I have seen since Times Square, and I mean that literally.

So if I don't use you as any kind of scapegoat, sometime I would like to ask you stuff.

Last edited by Crabbcakes; 01-26-2013 at 01:14 PM.

I have a mantra that I have spouted for years... "If I eat right, I feel right. If I feel right, I exercise right. If I exercise right, I think right. If I think right, I eat right..." Phil-SC

Just so you know, I will probably pepper you with oil field questions, especially in regard to the environment. Just your personal experiences, because I can't ask of you anything more than that. Crabbcakes Manor is a house divided as far as energy issues and the environment go - my hubby has opposing views to that of the rest of the family, and you seem to be a calm, cool, collected, well-spoken and intelligent sort who happens to be in the industry. The rest of us would like to string up the fracking folks by the short and curlies, just because we see trees coming down by the truckload, and those damn pads are much, much bigger than anybody really realized, and we are losing our starlight with the lights that shine brighter than anything I have seen since Times Square, and I mean that literally.

So if I don't use you as any kind of scapegoat, sometime I would like to ask you stuff.

I would be glad to answer your questions, and give insight and opinions on the subject. I won't back down from the hard questions either